Quixote Foundation, Inc.

The Internet and mobile technologies are changing the basic building blocks of our society:  information and communication. Decisions being made today will determine whether information and communication in the digital age will be open and fair—with free speech, open access, equal opportunity and diverse voices. Media Democracy Fund (MDF) works with foundations and donors of all sizes and issue areas, making grants to protect the public’s rights in this new era.

For Quixote Foundation, MDF’s approach is just as important as its innovative mission. MDF works closely with grantees to make connections within the field and with other movements, providing technical assistance when necessary and supporting a rapid-response grantmaking function to respond to opportunities and threats. Funding partners from all issue areas work together to develop strategy, and benefit from field tracking and online resources to support their own direct grantmaking.

The Center for Social Inclusion (CSI) sees the roots of racial inequity in the landscape of public policy: racial injustice in its primary form is not about individual attitudes, but about collective decisions that shape how resources are allocated.  CSI develops ideas, builds leadership and moves public will to promote structural transformation on racial, gender and class equity, ultimately increasing prosperity for all.  CSI develops tools and leadership for dismantling structural racism.  This effort requires research, analysis, testing and public education to expose the structural arrangements that exclude communities of color and weaken our society as a whole.  It also requires investment in communities’ leadership, engagement and strategy capacity to form multi-racial coalitions that can translate the changing demographics of the U.S. into a new source of political power.

Quixote Foundation’s partnership with CSI began with a convening that brought together a new “Brain Trust” of economic developers, investors and community leaders to talk about how to support green energy ownership in communities of color.  The convening explored ownership models, feasibility and specific energy sources-where issues of environmental protection and racial equity are inseparable. The Brain Trust is working on a white paper to contribute to a national conversation about promoting community-based green energy or energy related businesses and CSI has begun to share issue briefs with the field.